


Idiot

by Ayekasong



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Reflection, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:34:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26055784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ayekasong/pseuds/Ayekasong
Summary: At the Midnight Desert oasis, Callum reflects on his feelings for Rayla while they wait for the sun to rise.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 52





	Idiot

Callum was an idiot.

Rayla had kissed him and he had made her feel like he wasn’t interested.

The problem was, he  _ was  _ interested, he’d just become so flustered. He had been trying to make her feel better, trying to help her see that she didn’t deserve to be shunned by her people. She was amazing, and he wanted her to know that. Her kiss was completely unexpected, and his brain simply froze. His mouth apparently detached itself from reason and tried to compensate by not shutting up.

And things got worse. Nyx had apparently taken Zym and tried to strand them.

Soulfangs were waiting for them just outside of the magical barrier, and they determined it was too dangerous to leave the oasis. Rayla had told him to go back to sleep, and that she would wake him when dawn broke so that they could catch up and rescue Zym. It was a sensible plan, and he had done his best to get comfortable on the sandy oasis floor. 

And yet despite the exhaustion from weeks of traveling, though he forced his eyes to remain closed, Callum couldn’t sleep. He knew Rayla was awake, watching for the first rays of light to appear, but he didn’t dare chance a look at her. His thoughts kept drifting back to the feel of her lips against his.

And how his idiotic words had pushed her away.

Callum clenched his teeth together. He wanted so badly to talk to her about it, to tell her he was sorry, and an idiot. That he was just caught off guard, but really did like her. But he had no doubt she’d hold true to her threat of killing him if he broke his promise never to bring it up again. 

He squeezed his eyes shut even tighter as he remembered the murderous intent in her eyes when she insisted he never speak of this  _ incident _ again. A tinge of sadness pricked at his heart when she walked away from him, declaring that it never happened. Even if her kiss was unexpected, he didn’t want to just forget about it. Until tonight, he hadn’t thought Rayla was even interested in him like  _ that _ . Just days ago, she called Callum her best friend in front of Sol Regem, so he thought that’s where her feelings for him ended. He was just a big dumb human to her, right?

_ Right?  _

He drew in a deep breath, hoping it would sound like he was well within the arms of sleep. Callum really wasn’t sure exactly when he’d started feeling this way about Rayla. He was so frustrated that he couldn’t help her free Pyrrah that he was willing to turn to dark magic - which he had previously insisted was “not for him” - to ensure her safety. Was that something a best friend would do? He thought back to the way seeing her wear his scarf had brought up feelings he couldn’t put to words. It certainly wasn’t the same as seeing Ez playing around in his cloak. Was that how you were supposed to feel about a best friend? What about memorizing the way her hair smelled of flowers, or the way she felt when he was pressed up against her on a spinning seed? Is that what best friends did?

His face started to feel hot, and he pushed those thoughts away. He couldn’t allow his mind to continue down this path if he wanted to keep still and appear asleep.

Callum forced himself to think of Ez and what he might be doing back home in Katolis. He wondered if his little brother had regaled Opeli with the tales of their travels. Did the council even know the princes were still alive? Had Ez had another confrontation with Soren and Claudia? 

Claudia. He had once had a massive crush on the dark mage. He had drawn her picture so many times, he could probably sketch her in his sleep. He had been so thrilled when they’d gone on a date at the Moon Nexus. Callum had been so convinced that she was the girl of his dreams, that he couldn’t see why Rayla was so certain that Claudia and Soren were a threat. The ship carrying that dream had sailed when she had betrayed the princes, though. When Claudia had used dark magic to try and stop them from escaping on Phoe-Phoe, it had broken a part of him that he hadn’t known existed. 

In an odd way, his journey since then had helped him heal from that. The way he felt about Rayla was very different from how he had felt about Claudia. He wasn’t concerned about impressing Rayla - in fact, he doubted he was even capable of impressing her. Somehow, she made him want to be a better human. To do the right thing, even when the right thing was hard. Like  _ not _ taking advantage of her by trying to coax a kiss out of her when she was so obviously in pain.

His mother had once told him during “big feelings time,” that when someone was having big feelings, they were particularly vulnerable. They might say or do something they didn’t mean. Callum had always thought that meant saying something mean, or something along those lines. But maybe other people had other reactions. Could big feelings make you kiss someone and not mean it? Maybe Rayla really hadn’t meant to kiss him. Maybe it was just some sort of conditioned reaction that elves had when someone said something nice about them. That thought made his heart sink.

He hoped she had meant it, even if it wasn’t very well-timed.

He heard a soft sigh, and risked slightly opening an eye to look at her. Rayla was staring out into the desert, her head resting on her arms, which were crossed over her knees. The look on her face was so sad. Guilt gripped his heart anew. She had shown some vulnerability - something he knew Moonshadow Elves didn’t often do - and he had made her feel rejected. 

A horrible thought occurred to him. If he hadn’t been expecting her reaction, did she think he hadn’t been sincere with his words? She might kill him, but he couldn’t let her think he had been lying about how amazing she was.

“Rayla?” he asked softly, half expecting a blade to press against his throat.

She kept her eyes trained on the desert, and her jaw clenched. “I thought I told you to get some sleep.” The slight acid in her words made him wince.

“Sorry, I just- I can’t sleep.”

“I don’t know how long it will take us to catch up to Nyx, and you need to be well-rested so you can keep up.”

Callum sighed. “I’ll be okay. There’s no point in trying to sleep now.”

“Fine. But I don’t want to hear any complaining about how tired you are. There won’t be any breaks.” Her voice softened. “We have to find Zym as soon as possible.”

“He’ll be okay. I don’t think Nyx would hurt him.”

Rayla tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “It’s my fault. I should have known better than to take my eyes off of that Skywing Elf. Runaan always said that getting distracted will get you or your friends killed.”

Ah, so that was it. She blamed herself for losing Zym. He should have expected her to feel this way, but it still bothered him. Callum wanted to tell her to stop it, that this wasn’t her fault… but his thoughts went to their little exchange earlier and he was sure that she would not react well.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him, her violet eyes searching, asking a question that he couldn’t understand, much less give an answer to. Callum thought he would burst. He wanted to tell her everything, that his heart swelled every time he looked at her, that he really did have feelings for her. The words were on his tongue, but they wouldn’t come out. He swallowed, and found some other words, hoping he wouldn’t prove himself an idiot, yet again. “We’ll find him. We’ll get Zym back.”

She gave him a small smile. “Yea, we will.”

Just then, the first rays of light streaked across the desert sands. Rayla stood up and extended her hand to Callum. “Come on, let’s get ready to head out and rescue the dragon prince.” 

He placed his hand in hers, she pulled him up. He smiled gently at his best friend who had captured his heart. He’d make tonight up to her at some point. But for now, he was content to just stay by her side through this journey. “Yea. Let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo this is my first work for TDP, and I kind of wrote it quickly, so hopefully it's okay.
> 
> I'm newer to this fandom, and absolutely obsessed with Rayllum. I have three other pieces started - hopefully I get my act together and actually publish them!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this little one shot!


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